SAN FRANCISCO Defunct social media calling startup Telesocial has been dealt a loss in its federal lawsuit alleging that Orange SA, the French telecom giant, hacked into its system and stole its trade secrets.
A unanimous jury on Monday found that Orange had not breached computer hacking laws and did not steal Telesocial's trade secrets for its "Call Friends" service. The jury did find, however, that Orange had breached Telesocial's terms of service and awarded nominal damages of $1.
Telesocial had claimed damages of more than $60 million based on allegations that, after briefly discussing a partnership with Telesocial in 2012, Orange hacked its servers and ripped off its technology to integrate voice calling with such social media platforms as Facebook.
Telesocial is represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Orange is represented by Durie Tangri and Foley Hoag in the litigation.
"We're pleased with the result," Daniel Schimmel, a partner at Foley Hoag's New York and Paris offices, said after the verdict.
Edward DeFranco of Quinn Emanuel declined to comment.
Contact the reporter at bhancock@alm.com.